Written and directed by Bryan Chang
Wai-hung, AFTER THE CRESCENT
presents several hours in the life of 17 year-old Meme Lam (newcomer Ho
Pui-yi, giving a very natural and unaffected performance). Meme’s father
has been left bewildered by the death of his wife and wanders around in a
mental haze, her little brother is irresponsible, and her mildly retarded
elder brother requires constant attention. Recently broken up with her
boyfriend Wah (a pirate CD hawker), Meme discovers that she is now two
months pregnant and wanders the streets wondering what she should do.
Along the way she encounters an old friend of the family, who only speaks
with Meme because it provides a convenient way for her to avoid a
persistent suitor; another friend at a nightclub who tries to talk Meme
out of having an abortion; an affable goo wak jai with a somewhat dark
past; a nurse at an abortion clinic; and, finally, the girl Wah is seeing
now. Gradually, we spend a bit more time with these secondary characters,
while Meme meets up with one more person before the night is over.
Produced in semi-documentary style with limited use of music and long
takes (perfectly preserving those squirmingly awkward pauses we all face
in daily life but rarely ever see accurately presented in movies), the
film is an effective contrast of both realistic discourse and surrealistic
asides, heightened by very good use of both ambient sounds and artificial
silence. Fang Man-for, Lau Wai-shan, and Yun Wing-hung co-star. Chang
(whose name would be more properly translated in Cantonese as Cheung) has
worked on the screenplays for several films, most notably the police
thriller BLUE LIGHTNING and the infamous RUN AND KILL. AFTER THE CRESCENT
was his directorial debut and he has since gone on to make AMONG THE STARS
(2000). The materials used for the transfer show some wear and contrasts
tend to be weak but the presentation has no overtly distracting flaws.
From Hong
Kong Digital
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